This invention relates to means for conveniently attaching accessories to cameras, and has special application to cameras of the kind having a frontal housing for mounting such elements as an objective lens, a shutter mechanism, a photographic process-controlling photocell, flash equipment, or related devices.
Cameras of a type in connection with which this invention will be particularly described are disclosed and claimed, inter alia, by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,714,879 and 3,810,211, which are assigned to the assignee of this application. These patents pertain to compact collapsible cameras of the self-developing type, now well known in the art and in common use. Such a camera includes a lens-shutter housing of generally parallelepiped form, having a front wall in which an objective lens and camera function-controlling devices are mounted, and side, top, and bottom walls which extend rearwardly to terminate in rear corners, between which a light-tight enclosure, housing film for sequential exposure by the shutter mechanism, adjoins the rear portion of the lens-shutter housing. The enclosure is formed by a series of housing members, which are pivotally connected with the lens-shutter housing in a collapsible four-bar linkage, so that the camera may be folded into a flat, compact form.
It is often desired to employ various camera accessories for special photographic purposes. These accessories include flash and strobe-light equipment; special lenses for close-ups, telephoto, or wide-angle photography; filters for haze or for special effects; and remote-control and time-delay equipment. It is of great convenience to the photographer to be able to attach and detach such auxiliaries quickly, and with a minimum of manipulation. Further, the accessories should be as compact as possible, so as not to overburden the photographer. These requirements acquire even more pronounced importance in relation to cameras which are intended to be specially compact so that they can be carried in pocket or purse, rather than in bulky and cumbersome shoulder cases.
But the very compactness of such cameras poses obstacles to the convenience of attaching accessories, and of making necessary electrical and mechanical connections. The necessarily small lens-shutter housing is already rather crowded by the elements which must be mounted on it, and which must have open access; these include the objective lens, a photocell and manual knobs for controlling the camera settings, an actuator or shutter button, and sockets for flash or strobe lights for remote-control or time-delay cables. The difficulty is therefore to mount and connect any desired accessories without obscuring or blocking any of the elements of the camera proper.
The general object of the present invention is to afford photographers convenient, easily and quickly mountable and demountable means for attaching accessories in operative relation to cameras. Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.